Criminals generally like to act in the darkness, without having light illuminate their identities or their activities.

"More lighting is better to reduce crime," said Maj. Briscoe Edwards with Henderson Police Department. "Criminals don't like to operate in the light."

The general public also tends to feel safer when in well-lit areas.

"There's a difference between a perception of crime and the actual crime statistics," said Edwards. "The problem is most people perceive that their neighborhood is extremely crime ridden and violent when in actuality, by crime statistics, it's not. If you can light it up where their perception of being a crime victim goes down, then I think that accomplishes a lot."

Henderson Municipal Power and Light is working to make the city's East End a better lit area through the Smart Lighting Project, which was launched by the Henderson City Commission earlier this year. The project targets an area from Washington Street to Bailey Street and from Atkinson Street to Green Street.

The plan is to place 400 LED lights in the East End this year, said Steve Smith, a manager at HMP&L. The agency has installed approximately 170 so far this year.

HMP&L has finished installing LED lights from Washington Street to Clay Street and from Atkinson Street to Meadow Street, Smith said. The agency is looking at between 200 to 275 feet of spacing between lights.

Some East End residents initially complained when HMP&L crews began replacing the old "orange" cast lights, said Smith. Most of the complaints were about residents not being able to see to get their key out to open their front door.

"Our job is not to light the front of your house to get your key in," said Smith. "We're trying to light the street and the sidewalk."

Smith has advised residents to put their porch lights on to help with visibility. He's also recommended they buy LED bulbs for their outdoor lights since they last a long time, use a low amount of electricity and the cost of the bulbs have gone down since they were first introduced.

As the project has gone on, there have been fewer complaints and now people seem to like it, Smith said. The white lights together look brighter than the old lights, he said.

Meanwhile, one of the city police department's goals is to reduce the perception of crime in the neighborhood. Third shift officers have said a lot of areas have improved vastly in terms of brightness, said Edwards.

Edwards was asked to poll his fellow police officers on what area to tackle next. He said he would take a look at the latest crime maps and have suggestions for the committee.

HMP&L plans to be strategic about the installing the LED lights, like moving from east to west as they install them so that when the lights need to be replaced in about 15 years, they will know which section of lights to replace first, said General Manager Chris Heimgartner.

The Smart Lighting Project committee plans to present an update on the project sometime soon to the Henderson City Commission.